1

As I was scrolling through Twitter, I came across a post from Adalyn Finch, my husband's first love. It read: [In the end, it's still you by my side], accompanied by a blurred photo of a man's back. I squinted at the image, and to my shock, the ring on the man's hand was the exact match to the wedding ring I had given my husband.

I immediately leaped out of the bathtub. I recognized that hand in the picture. It was unmistakably my husband, Lawrence Vasquez's hand. The distinct scar on his index finger was a dead giveaway.

I thought to myself, "How dare Lawrence meet up with his first love behind my back?"

Without a second thought, I dialed Lawrence's number. The phone rang for a while before he finally picked up, his voice sounding lazy and uninterested.

"What's up?" he asked in a flat tone.

"Are you back in the country?" I inquired.

"Yeah," he replied curtly.

It seemed he had wasted no time in meeting up with his first love as soon as he got back.

"When did you..."

Before I could finish, he cut me off, saying, "I'm in a meeting," and then abruptly hung up.

Our marriage was a business arrangement, so there wasn't much emotion between us. However, for the past two years, we had managed to get along well enough. But now, with his first love back in the picture, he was not only lying to me but also didn't even bother with the pretense of politeness.

I thought to myself, "So, he thinks his wife isn't as good as his first love, huh?"

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

I went to his wine cabinet, carefully selecting a bottle of rare vintage red wine, and slowly drank half of it. Then, I lay in bed and contacted a sales associate to reserve a few limited-edition handbags. Only then did I feel somewhat balanced.

In the middle of the night, I woke up feeling incredibly thirsty. Someone gently supported my neck and tenderly fed me water from their mouth. And then, things quickly spiraled out of control. ...

The next morning, my legs were still trembling.

As soon as I sat up, Lawrence walked in like a ghost, asking, "Aren't you getting up?"

He lifted me up effortlessly and placed me on the bathroom counter, allowing my legs to wrap around his waist. Our posture was incredibly intimate.

Upon remembering last night's passion between us, my face suddenly flushed with embarrassment. I shyly asked him, "What are you doing?"

Lawrence held up his phone and took a couple of pictures of our faces. Then, while typing something on Twitter, he said, "My mom was bugging me all night about wanting a grandchild. It's driving me crazy."

I didn't say anything, thinking to myself, "So he's just trying to appease his mom. I read too much into it."

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, I was shocked to discover kiss marks all over my neck, chest, and waist.

I thought, "What's gotten into Lawrence? He's like a little puppy!"

I silently cursed him in my mind, but he attentively helped me to the dining table's main seat, laying out an exquisite breakfast before me.

Immediately, I noticed a shiny diamond ring nestled inside a heart shape made of ketchup. The ring looked to be at least five carats.

I thought to myself, "Why is he suddenly being so attentive? Could it be because something really happened between him and his first love?"

"I was in a meeting yesterday. Couldn't take your call," Lawrence explained.

I thought, "He was obviously with his first love at that time. If I hadn't recognized that it was his hand in the photo, I might've believed him."

"Oh," I responded absentmindedly, stirring my knife and fork.

After breakfast, seeing that Lawrence wasn't leaving, I asked him, "Don't you have work today?"

I thought, "With such precious time, why isn't he going out to make money instead of sitting around at home?

He's not only wasting time but also dashing my hopes of purchasing those handbags still lingering in the store, as well as the sports cars showcased at the auto exhibition.

Lawrence was engrossed in a financial magazine, not even looking up as he replied, "I'm planning to take a few days off."

I thought, "When we shoot our wedding photo, Mr. Vasquez could only spare four hours, and now that his first love is back, he's taking time off. Who would believe that?"

I rolled my eyes and continued scrolling on my phone. Suddenly, I received a few messages on Twitter.

"The lead actress has been confirmed, and filming is expected to start this weekend. Actors, please arrange your schedules and be on set on time."

Soon after, Adalyn replied with a message, "I look forward to working with everyone in the coming days."

I was stunned.

I thought, "If Adalyn is playing the lead, doesn't that make me the villainous supporting character who only serves to make her look good? Is it too late to back out now?

Wait, there's a scene in the script where I slap her and nearly drown her in a lake.

Since the plot is this exciting, maybe I should finish shooting before I leave."

So, I eagerly picked up the script again. I sneaked a glance at Lawrence, suddenly wanting to test him.

"By the way, Adalyn is back in the country."

Lawrence's movements paused for a moment, but he soon resumed as if nothing had happened. He replied calmly, "Okay."

"I've just taken on a new show, and she's playing the lead, the male lead's first love."

Lawrence's face didn't show much emotion as he responded blandly, "That's good."

2

I thought to myself, "Lawrence is being way too fake.

Like now, he knows perfectly well that his first love, Adalyn, is bound to be at tonight's production team meet-and-greet, yet he's pretending like it has nothing to do with him, acting as if he doesn't know a thing."

When Adalyn walked in, elegantly dressed in a flowing white gown, Lawrence kept up his charade of indifference, not even glancing up.

Adalyn was accompanied by the male lead of the show, Kolton Garrett. Kolton and I had been classmates in college. He came from a wealthy family and jumped straight into the entertainment industry after graduation.

"Christie, it's been a while," Kolton said with a smile as he sat down beside me.

"Yeah, it has. But you still look as handsome as ever."

Kolton chuckled softly, then began introducing the people around him.

There was one seat between Adalyn and me, but her gaze remained fixed on Lawrence. When she greeted him, he didn't respond, only giving a cold "hmm" before suddenly pulling me to sit at the farthest corner from them.

I thought, "There's definitely something going on between these two!

No wonder Lawrence came back so late the night Adalyn returned to the country. He must have had a fight with her. So that night, he was taking out his frustrations on me?"

Just as I suspected, Lawrence kept stealing glances over at Adalyn. Seeing her chatting closely with Kolton, his expression grew darker by the minute.

I couldn't help but scoff internally. "He said he came to accompany me to meet the director. More like he's using this as an excuse to reconcile with his ex."

With only the four of us in the private room, Adalyn had no reservations about showing off the ring on her left hand's ring finger. The way she looked at me seemed to scream, "You might as well back off now."

That blurry photo she posted earlier with the post: [In the end, it's still you by my side], was clearly meant to provoke me.

A wave of anger surged within me, and I grabbed the wine glass on the table, turning to Lawrence with a playful tone. "Darling, let's drink to our love, shall we?"

"That's a strong drink," he said, trying to hold my hand down.

His eyes kept darting behind me, making me feel increasingly upset.

I shoved his hand away and downed the wine in one gulp, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. "I'll drink if I want to. You can't stop me."

I thought, "He's flirting with his old flame right in front of me. Does he not care about my feelings at all?"

There was a fire burning inside me, with no outlet in sight.

Without thinking, I turned around and straddled his lap, starting to unbutton his shirt. I needed to do something, anything. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming urge to kiss his Adam's apple as it bobbed.

Lawrence grabbed my hands, a flash of anger in his eyes. "Christie, stop it."

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow in Adalyn's direction.

"You'll regret this."

With that, Lawrence scooped me up and strode out of the room.

I was caught off guard and whispered, "Wait, I haven't even met the director yet!"

He shoved me into the passenger seat, and the car shot forward like an arrow.

I had no idea where he was taking me. When the car finally stopped, it was pitch dark all around, and the sounds of unknown creatures filled the night air. I was terrified, thinking, "Is he planning to kill me because I ruined his ‘good guy' image in front of his first love and dump my body in the wilderness?"

I started to panic.

I cried in my mind, "No, no, let's not do this. I'll give up. I'll let you be with your first love."

"Don't... Lawrence, um... we can get a divorce."

His kiss cut off my words. He pressed me down into the seat. His kiss was so intense that it left me gasping for breath.

I didn't know if it was the alcohol or a lack of oxygen making me hallucinate, but I vaguely heard Lawrence mutter through gritted teeth, "Adalyn, you won't escape from me."

3

I was jolted awake by my 12 PM alarm. Besides the headache from my hangover, my whole body ached as if I'd been beaten up.

I thought, "Last night, Lawrence didn't seem like he was planning to divorce me. He's more like he wanted to kill me. Adalyn just got a little cozy with Kolton, and he took out his jealousy on me. If this keeps up, will I end up dying young?

And how dare he call out another woman's name while holding me? How am I supposed to tolerate that?

I'm going to confront him right now."

I typed the word "divorce" into Twitter, ready to send it out, but Lawrence suddenly sent me a few pictures of handbags, followed by a message: ["These are the limited-edition diamond bags you liked last time. They'll be delivered to you next month.]

I internally screamed, "Ahhh! These are the very same diamond bags I've been dreaming of, and there are only two of them in the whole world!"

Then, a thought hit me.

I thought, "If I divorce him now, there's no way I'll get those bags. Once Lawrence buys something, there's no way he's returning it. If that happens, won't those bags just end up in Adalyn's hands for free?

No way! I'm not that generous."

So, I quietly retracted the divorce message.

For the sake of my beloved Hermès bags, I felt I could put up with him for another month.

He sent another message: [What did you just retract?]

I quickly tried to cover up, typing out a reply: [Your wife will be waiting for you at home tonight. Looking forward to spending a lovely evening with you!]

After some thought, I added a cute little cat emoji.

Lawrence must still be mad at Adalyn because he uncharacteristically replied: [Okay, be good and wait for me.]

I immediately regretted sending that message. Lawrence was tireless in bed, and my body was still covered in kiss marks.

To cover them, I had to find a long-sleeved dress to wear.

My best friend, Fidelia Calderon, gave me a knowing look, smiling as she absentmindedly stirred her coffee, messing up the latte art. "Christie, it looks like things are pretty hot between you and your husband lately!"

"Shut up," I snapped.

Just thinking about Lawrence and Adalyn's entanglement was enough to irritate me. It was obvious he was doing it on purpose. We were about to start filming, and he'd left me with so many marks that I'd probably end up trending.

As I turned my head, I caught sight of a familiar figure.

Wait, there were two familiar figures.

I saw Lawrence and Adalyn shopping together at some luxury store.

I cursed internally, "Way to go, Lawrence. You just bribed me with Hermès and now you're out shopping at Louis Vuitton with your old flame?"

Fidelia noticed, too, and angrily asked, "Should we go over there and teach her a lesson?"